ICMS Studnets Visit US Embassy, Phora Compound

On May 8, 2015, students of ICMS visited the Phora Durbar compound, Kantipath of US embassy for a talk on the U.S. disaster relief efforts in Nepal. The program took place at 10: 30 a.m. with the U.S. ambassador to Nepal; Peter W. Bodde starting the talk followed by DART team leader Bill Berger. Berger who illustrated the mechanism used by the DART following a disaster to the students. He also emphasized the importance of need assessment to be carried out before relief work. The representatives of U.S. Joint Task Force, Los Angeles Fire Department and Fairfax County, Virginia too talked for a few minutes about their parts on the relief efforts. Beth Dunford, the mission director of USAID to Nepal spoke for a few minutes about the role USAID has been playing for the last 60 years for the developing resistance against disaster among Nepalese through development works.

The talk was followed by a brief question and answer session. After that, the students were given a tour of U.S. Military operations centre and search and rescue camps. The students were able to observe how the work was being carried out and what mechanisms were being used. It was a great learning opportunity for the students regarding the Earthquake Relief Efforts.